1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a tool holder. More specifically the present invention relates to a pull handle of a power operated device incorporating a tool holder having at least one service tool permanently attached. The pull handle is permanently coupled to the pull cord. Also described is a means for locking the pull cord in a retracted state.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Power operated devices often require maintenance that necessitates the use of service tools. This maintenance can include cleaning, tightening, and sharpening components of the device, or removing and attaching parts and accessories of the device. To this end, there exists a plethora of service tools and several ways of holding service tools so that they are readily available once such servicing is required. The operator of a powered device may carry individual service tools, but depending on their shape and size it may be cumbersome and/or dangerous for the operator to carry the individual service tools while using the power-operated device.
An attempt to remedy these problems has been made by Pichler et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,835 incorporated herein by reference. The '835 patent demonstrates a tool carrier formed as an essential component necessary to operate a power operated device. The tool carrier must be detached from a power-operated device in order to effectively use the service tools that are permanently attached to the tool carrier. Pichler et al. contend that, as an essential operating component of the power operated device, a removable tool carrier fashioned as described above makes misplacing the tool carrier practically impossible. However, the '835 patent does not successfully solve the problem associated with a service tool's vulnerability to being misplaced. For instance, it is not unforeseeable that under certain circumstances, once removed for the purpose of servicing a power operated device, the tool carrier of the '835 patent may be misplaced, forgotten, or dropped in an area from which it may not be easily retrieved. Further, due to the functional relation of the tool carrier of the '835 patent to the power-operated device, misplacement of this tool carrier would create an additional undesirable consequence of rendering the power-operated device inoperable.
Presently there is, by way of example, need for an apparatus, such as that taught in the present invention, which effectively addresses and solves the aforementioned shortcomings and others. Specifically, an apparatus is needed that can conveniently store service tools for a power operated device while affording safe and unburdening operation of that power operated device. Moreover, it is essential to eliminate the service tool's susceptibility to being lost, which may be caused by the circumstances of the service tools use.